All-woman SWAT team ready to fight terrorists in Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 10 : The Delhi Police on Friday inducted an all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, consisting of 36 commandos -- the first-ever by any police force in India -- for anti-terrorist operations.
Presiding over the induction ceremony, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressed happiness that the Delhi Police has raised an all-woman SWAT team and mentioned that "they will be deployed during the upcoming Independence Day celebrations".
The elite women commandos, hailing from the north-eastern states, will be deployed at strategic locations for securing the Independence Day celebrations.
"The 36 women SWAT commandos have undergone rigorous 15-month training which includes basic, commando and advanced honing of skills under the tutelage of NSG (National Security Guard) trainers. The Delhi Police has raised the commandos for anti-terrorism duty under the Special Cell unit of the force," Rajnath Singh said.
On the occasion, the Minister asked the Delhi Police to play a lead role as being the police of the national capital and advised the force to become a role model for other states and union territories' police.
"The practices adopted by Delhi Police should be among the best practices of police," he said.
Rajnath Singh also stressed upon the perceptional change of the Delhi Police, directing senior officers to go on patrolling with juniors on some occasions and motivate them to adopt a public-friendly approach while taking part in their policing activities.
On Friday, he also inaugurated the building of the offices of Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West district), Delhi Cantt Police Station and Delhi Police residential complex and said that "construction of new complexes strengthen the basic infrastructure of the department which will lead to new energy in the personnel towards their duty, finally benefiting the citizens".
He said that the society has a lot of expectations from the Delhi Police and to meet these expectations, it needs modern working place and good working environment.
For the purpose, the Minister said the government has increased the fund allocation to Delhi Police from Rs 6,378.18 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 7,426.98 crore in 2018-19, an increase of 15 per cent.
He said the government has also sanctioned procurement of Facial Recognition System for the Crime Unit and 2,700 hand-held devices with SIM card for equipping constables with e-beatbook.
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also said that a proposal to recruit 12,000 additional personnel in the Delhi Police is under consideration, but added that the approval has been given to recruit 3,139 police personnel.
Besides, the government created 4,227 posts in the year 2016 and another 3,139 posts this year while separating the crime investigation from the law and order functions with an aim to improve the conviction rate, he said.
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and other senior officers were present on the occasion.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
